Books with a strong Original Artwork content

[J.Sid]

Thanks for sharing. Now I don't need to give them my $49.99. I'm sure Russ thanks you, too.

 

 

[J.Sid]

Pardon the sarcasm. This is a good thread topic, but we should be careful not to cannibalize sales for the artists we care enough about to highlight.

 

 

[adamstrange]

The book is 340 pages long.

 

I can't see how this thread of small pictures of sample pages will do anything other than encourage the appreciation of Russ's incredible talent and the purchase of the book.

[J.Sid]

340 pages does change my opinion... a little. I still think showing 30 pages from a book is too many.

[Terry Doyle]

340 pages does change my opinion... a little. I still think showing 30 pages from a book is too many.

 

So why bother with the other 310 pages and the lengthy write-up when you can look at a smattering of photographs on a web-site. I guess the photos are all you need to see to stop you from buying a copy!

 

Bit like saying that when you see a movie trailer, it prevents you from wanting to watch the full movie it's promoting?

 

Perhaps the idea of 'whetting one's appetite' is an alien concept to you?

[Terry Doyle]

The book is 340 pages long.

 

I can't see how this thread of small pictures of sample pages will do anything other than encourage the appreciation of Russ's incredible talent and the purchase of the book.

 

Exactly! (thumbs u

[Garf]

Can I play?

 

Not really an out and out art book. "Alan Moore - Storyteller", wanted to add it here purely because it is something I have read recently. It's pretty comrehensive about his works both in comics and elsewhere. It features a lot of the end product and photographs but also has a decent amount of the original art, pencils, concepts, Moore's own thumbnails and some scripts (including a fold out).

 

Where this did fall down for me is that it really does try and cover everything so you don't get much depth on any one book leaving you feeling like you haven't really sunk your teeth in somewhere. As an example out of the approx 300 pages only 7 (not including a -script) are devoted to V for Vendetta and that is your lot. Text, pictures, art and all. Looking at the later edition Vertigo softback of V for Vendetta you get 2 forewords from the creators and (not even counting the additional Warrior Magazine short stories) another 21 pages of "Behind the Painted Smile"

 

That's not to say there isn't plenty of content in "Storyteller" I would not have happened across elsewhere. I found it enjoyable and stuffed full of artwork and other images taking you beyond and behind the scenes. It's not heavy on the original art before publication but it still has a strong presence alongside everything else. Oversized hardcover and generally a lot of bang for your buck. It took my kids all of a few minutes to destroy the dust jacket when I left it on the couch for half a day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Terry Doyle]

Can I play?

 

Sure, but maybe we ought to have a 'Spoiler Alert' for collectors like Mr. Sid?

 

 

 

[Terry Doyle]

Next up (from me) is the 2010 publication, 'A Celebration of the Life and Art of Frank Hampson; Tomorrow Revisited', a revised and updated biography of the British strip-illustrator, whose science-fiction series, Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future, ran for nearly 20 years from 1950 through to the late 1960s over here in the UK.

 

This one's a bit of a sore point for me . . . I knew the writer, Alastair Crompton, for a long time and played a pivotal role in getting his revised book published by Paul Stephenson (of PS Art Books).

 

Only trouble was, Alastair conveniently forgot to give me an acknowledgement in his opening introduction.

 

I even went the extra mile to visit the publisher armed with a wealth of Hampson originals (many of which I subsequently sold to Paul), so that Alastair's revised book had lots of original artwork scans.

 

At least Paul remembered my contribution and gave me a credit on page 207 of the book.

 

Still, it's a fantastic book, coming in at 230 pages.

 

The Dan Dare strip was a full-colour painted series, so all the colour photographs capture to near perfection the quality of Hampson's original artwork.

 

Less known in America (but big over here), this book carries my strongest recommendation . . .

 

[Terry Doyle]

[Terry Doyle]

 

Studio reference sheets (Hampson had a team of assistants), used for reasons of continuity.

[Terry Doyle]

 

The left hand page shows a recent-ish photograph of Hampson's main assistant (Don Harley), holding a page of original artwork he contributed to.

 

 

[Terry Doyle]

[Terry Doyle]

 

The right hand page shows an original from the 'Rogue Planet' serial. The left hand page shows a series of preliminary sketches used for reference purposes.

[Terry Doyle]

[Terry Doyle]

 

The original artwork, on the left hand side (which I'm the proud owner of) placed alongside the reproduction used for the book.

 

From the 'Reign of the Robots' serial, January 1958.

[Terry Doyle]

 

Opening page 1 episode to the serial, 'The Ship That Lived', with the preliminary art on the left hand side.

 

The Dan Dare strip, was serialised in weekly episodes of two pages.

 

Page 1 of the strip appeared on the cover of Eagle magazine, with page two on the next page (Eagle was an anthology title containing numerous strips and features . . . something akin to the American Sunday newspaper comic-strip supplements)

[Terry Doyle]

 

Another great 'Ship That Lived' page 1.

 

On the left hand side are some studio photographs.

 

Hampson had an interesting working process . . .

 

He would first of all create a preliminary piece of artwork (which he referred to as a, 'Colour Visual'). From the visual he would have members of his team pose for photographs (based on individual panels from his preliminary art).

 

The finished artwork (a combination of the best of Hampson's preliminary and the photographs) would draw heavily on the photographic references to ensure lighting was correct and poses feasible.

 

 

[Terry Doyle]

[Terry Doyle]